by AnnSheybani | May 31, 2010 | cancer, Cultural Issues, death, dying, Faith, fatalism, Final Gifts, hospice nurse, Kubler-Ross
So much time has passed, but the two and a half years of illness are still fresh in my mind. I can still hear his voice calling me from the hospital after exploratory surgery. From the tone, I know something is terribly wrong even before he tells me. He’s supposed... by AnnSheybani | Apr 27, 2010 | Cultural Issues, developing world, girls' education, Half the Sky, Hymen, imperialism, Iran, mass rape, maternal mortality, microfinance, mysogany, Nicholas Kristof, prostitution, sex trafficking, Sheryl WuDunn, slavery, virginity, wedding night
I’m back at the small confectionary shop in Iran where Hannah, my husband’s niece, and I order frozen noodles. “One of the girls in my study group had a really hard time breaking her hymen on her wedding night, ” Hannah says, staring out the picture window at women... by AnnSheybani | Apr 19, 2010 | Authenticity, Betrayal, Codependency, Courage, Honesty, Intimacy, Iran, mixed marriages, Secrets, Self-Esteem, Sue Miller, While I Was Gone
“I want you back and I want you back this instant,” my husband said over the phone. From the dangerously controlled tone of his voice, I knew I’d pushed my self over the precipice, past the point of no return. I’d just called to tell him that the kids and I wouldn’t... by AnnSheybani | Apr 2, 2010 | anorexia, Confidence, dieting, goals, Karen Bridson, Planning, South Beach Diet, The Secrets of Skinny Chicks, The Zone, weight loss, Weight Watchers
When I was eleven, my mother signed me up for a weight loss class. Having battled the bulge for years on end, she was alarmed when, at that awkward age, I, too, started piling on the pounds. So, every week, we drove out to the local University, where a pair of... by AnnSheybani | Mar 3, 2010 | Betrayal, Boundaries, Codependency, Cultural Issues, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Polygamy, Self-Esteem, The Invitation
A long time ago, before I had children, my husband took a second wife. We were living in Washington, D.C., not the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I had nothing of real value to lose if I packed up and left. The other woman— an old girlfriend who, last I’d heard, had...
